Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Given Buy Rating at Jefferies Financial Group

by · The Markets Daily

Jefferies Financial Group reissued their buy rating on shares of Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Free Report) in a research report released on Monday morning.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on CRM. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Salesforce from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on Salesforce from $222.00 to $266.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. CLSA began coverage on Salesforce in a research note on Monday, July 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Salesforce from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Salesforce from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $275.14.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on CRM

Salesforce Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of CRM opened at $238.01 on Monday. Salesforce has a 1 year low of $146.32 and a 1 year high of $269.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.84. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $212.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $190.04. The firm has a market cap of $195.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.20.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 26th. The CRM provider reported $5.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.27 by $2.63. Salesforce had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 24.90%. The firm had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.91 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. Salesforce has set its FY 2027 guidance at 16.670-16.710 EPS and its Q3 2027 guidance at 3.420-3.440 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Salesforce will post 12.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Salesforce Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 8th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 17th will be paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 17th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Salesforce’s payout ratio is presently 16.04%.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

In other Salesforce news, Director David Blair Kirk purchased 4,176 shares of Salesforce stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $239.33 per share, with a total value of $999,442.08. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 18,748 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,486,958.84. This trade represents a 28.66% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Craig Conway sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.61, for a total transaction of $1,172,745.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 5,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,416,936.57. This represents a 45.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 3.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Salesforce

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,396,844,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Salesforce in the second quarter worth about $1,914,086,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Salesforce during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,182,951,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Salesforce by 130.2% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 12,659,217 shares of the CRM provider’s stock valued at $2,363,096,000 after purchasing an additional 7,160,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at $927,332,000. Institutional investors own 80.43% of the company’s stock.

More Salesforce News

Here are the key news stories impacting Salesforce this week:

  • Positive Sentiment: AIforce expands Salesforce’s AI strategy. At Dreamforce 2026, Salesforce introduced AIforce, an open and provider-agnostic AI layer designed to connect governed, agentic AI across customer workflows and partner ecosystems. Integrations with AWS and Google Cloud, along with adoption of Agentforce and Data Cloud 360, support the argument that Salesforce could become an operating backbone for enterprise AI. Can Salesforce’s New AIforce Layer Deepen Its Ecosystem Moat and Monetization Story for CRM?
  • Positive Sentiment: Analyst support is improving. Wells Fargo raised its Salesforce price target, citing customer demand for Agentforce and the possibility that approximately $1.5 billion in Agentforce annual recurring revenue can accelerate growth. Other recent commentary argues that Salesforce’s agentic-AI business is scaling faster than its valuation suggests. Wells Fargo Raises Salesforce’s Price Target
  • Positive Sentiment: Sector strength and valuation are providing support. Enterprise software stocks rallied even as broader large-cap technology shares weakened, while value- and momentum-oriented screens continued to highlight CRM. Salesforce’s valuation remains more moderate than many high-growth technology companies, which may attract investors seeking established software exposure. Enterprise Software Stocks Rally
  • Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also focused on Salesforce’s AI investments. CEO Marc Benioff said the company’s investment in Anthropic was partly a response to being unable to invest in OpenAI, and could ultimately be worth tens of billions. The potential is significant, but returns depend on the broader AI ecosystem and Salesforce’s ability to convert investments into software revenue. Marc Benioff says Salesforce’s investment in Anthropic
  • Negative Sentiment: AI disruption remains the principal risk. Critics argue that large installed customer bases can make it difficult for Salesforce to adapt quickly as AI changes enterprise software, while worsening Agentforce unit economics could limit profitability even if usage grows. Investors therefore need evidence that AI adoption will produce durable, high-margin revenue rather than increase costs or cannibalize existing CRM products. Salesforce: AWU Economics Are Worsening

Salesforce Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Salesforce, Inc is a cloud-based software company that provides customer relationship management (CRM) technology and related enterprise applications. Its platform helps organizations manage sales, customer service, marketing, commerce, data analytics and business operations through subscription-based software and cloud services.

The company’s product portfolio includes Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Data Cloud and the Salesforce Platform. Salesforce also offers Slack for workplace collaboration, Tableau for data visualization and analytics, MuleSoft for application integration, and artificial intelligence capabilities, including its Agentforce platform for building and deploying AI agents.

Founded in 1999, Salesforce is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and serves businesses and organizations across a broad range of industries and geographic markets worldwide.

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